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4.03
| 23,700
| Jul 19, 2022
| Jul 19, 2022
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really liked it
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Amazon Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Amazon Publishing and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Content warnings: animal attacks, cult, death, mature content, mention of cannibalism, mention of incest, mention of teen pregnancy, mentions of child abuse, mentions of self-mutilation, mentions of sexual assault, murder // Please educate yourself on the content warnings for this novel before reading, as I may have missed some in my review. This novel contains many dark themes that can be disturbing to some. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 4/5 Stars Characters: 3/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Plot: 4/5 Stars Memorability: 3/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // The Big Dark Sky is a brilliantly written novel following the stories of various characters all connected to a mystery at the center of the spiderweb they’ve been caught in. Full of suspense and showcasing Koontz’s excellent writing style, The Big Dark Sky maintains Koontz as one of the best thriller writers. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing Page Count: 390 pages Release Date: July 19, 2022 Series: None Tags: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Science fiction, Suspense, Horror --- // Review // From the moment I started reading The Big Dark Sky, I was drawn in by the mysterious and paranormal nature of the novel. The homicidal forces that surrounded the characters posed a serious threat and made me want to know more about the peril. From a psychotic cult to murderous aliens, The Big Dark Sky presents a complex intermingling of evil forces that threaten to eradicate humankind. Dean Koontz is a master at using multiple points of view to build suspense and shows different storylines all barreling towards one focus. Think a Stranger Things-esque meetup at the end of the season but just in a book (yes, Stranger Things is and always will be my obsession… go watch Season 4). The point is that I love media that utilize this form of storytelling and it almost always keeps me engaged with the story. The Big Dark Sky is relatively fast-paced after the first few chapters and, as I mentioned, contains what seems to be many small plots. Still, they all connect in the end. The suspense and stakes of the situation rise rapidly throughout the book. However, I felt that the ending was too rushed and didn’t fit with the rest of the novel. Frankly, it was underwhelming and left me a little disappointed in contrast to the rest of the events. Without mentioning any spoilers, I will say that the final showdown between the characters and the monstrous evil attacking humanity would have been better had it been slowed down. Even though the fight was very predictable, it felt like the villain came out of nowhere? If that makes sense? Gosh, it’s so hard to review books without spoilers. Anyways, I was slightly disappointed with the characters in this novel. Usually, I can handle a large cast of characters and distinguish them from one another. Unfortunately, many of the characters just felt too similar to one another for me to truly connect to or care about them. Characters like Joanne, Ophelia, Colson, and Asher Optime stuck out, though. Joanne is a young woman whose past is shadowed by mystery, tragedy, and lies. Though, she doesn’t know it until mysterious occurrences haunt her house and dreams. The story allows her to discover the truth behind her past, unraveling the life she has known throughout her adult life. Ophelia and Colson are both captives of Asher Optime, a psychopathic egomaniac whose sole ‘purpose’ is to start and finish the destruction of humanity. For whatever reason—probably their homicidal tendencies—Asher reminded me a lot of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (undoubtedly, though, Asher Optime could not possibly be more stylish than Christian Bale). Asher is determined to set himself apart from the rest of the human race. However, his choice of action is not to spread goodness throughout the world but instead to kidnap people, make them hopeless, and then kill them… all in the name of his twisted agenda shaped by a cult. Despite being completely evil, I found Asher Optime to be the most unique and memorable of the characters. Perhaps it is because he is the perfect villain for a thriller/suspense novel. One of my favorite parts of The Big Dark Sky was the setting. The isolation that the Rustling Willows Ranch offered added a chilling feel to the book. It is truly one of my worst fears to be far from civilization… being in/near the woods just intensifies my absolute terror. I’ve seen too many horror movies to know that taking a ‘fun’ little trip to an isolated place is practically a death wish. Can you tell I’m not an outdoorsy person? All parts of the novel came together to form a relatively cohesive and chilling tale of deception, secrets, and evil. Overall, I enjoyed reading The Big Dark Sky. There were many aspects that made this novel a worthwhile and suspenseful read. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 23, 2022
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Jul 02, 2022
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May 04, 2022
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ebook
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3.60
| 161,835
| Nov 10, 1987
| Apr 20, 1993
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did not like it
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 04, 2022
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Apr 21, 2022
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Apr 01, 2022
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Mass Market Paperback
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1250268885
| 9781250268884
| 1250268885
| 3.90
| 78,631
| Mar 01, 2022
| Mar 01, 2022
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really liked it
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to Minotaur Books Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Content Warnings: murder, violence, teen pregnancy, sexual relationship between an adult and a minor, drug deals, gun violence // – Please educate yourself on the content warnings for this book before reading, as I may have missed some here. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 4/5 Stars Characters: 4/5 Stars Writing: 4/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 3/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // Fast-paced and thought-inducing, The Night Shift features a spectacular mystery that keeps one yearning for answers. Filled with fascinating twists and turns, Finlay’s latest thriller presents a vast cast of characters that will connect you to an outstanding whodunit. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Minotaur Books Page Count: 368 pages Release Date: March 1, 2022 Series: None Tags: Adult, Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, Horror, Murder mystery, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller --- // Characters // Though filled with a plethora of magnificent characters, the novel is split between three main characters with various circumstances and backgrounds. The way this story unfolded between its characters reminded me of Stranger Things (I’ve been rewatching the series in preparation for Season 4, of course); how all the characters deal with different pieces of the puzzle but eventually come together to form the whole picture. Ella is the sole survivor of the New Years’ Eve 1999 attack on the Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey. It was hard to understand Ella’s character at first. It is not until later in the novel that the book begins to unveil the reality behind Ella’s character and I began to understand her better. Ella is very obviously traumatized from the attack on her and her friends in 1999. She carries the survivor’s guilt from that night and finds it difficult to navigate adult life in 2015. Agent Keller is helping to investigate the murders of workers in an ice cream shop; a murder eerily similar to that of the Blockbuster murders. Chris is a lawyer with deep connections to the Blockbuster murder. Back in the day, his brother was the prime suspect in the Blockbuster murders. Chris now lives under a different name but becomes entangled in defending the suspect of the ice cream shop murders. All three of these characters eventually cross paths, but their journey to their meeting is what really makes the book interesting. It took me a while to become truly interested in this novel and its characters, but after reading half of the novel I began to care for Ella, Chris, Keller, and others. --- // Writing and Setting // I love media of the mystery genre that starts off with a bunch of little mysteries that need to be untangled in order to see the entire truth of the story. They typically keep my interest, just as this book did. The secrets contained in this novel span from 1999 to 2015. The past never seems far from the present, as murders similar to that of the ones on New Years’ Eve 1999 continue to occur as the characters race against the clock to find the culprit. --- // Plot // The plot, since this is a thriller/mystery, was my favorite part of The Night Shift. Though I’ve seen many people saying they thought this story was very predictable, I found it to be the complete opposite. I was completely entranced by how in the dark I was. Perhaps it was because it took me longer to read this novel that I wasn’t immediately struck with suspicions of who the killer could be. Regardless, I thought that this book was filled with surprises and twists and turns. As I’ve mentioned various times, the characters deal with their own sub-plots that contribute meaning to the overarching question of the novel: Who is the killer who struck in 1999 and 2015? --- // Wrap Up // Usually, when I am in a reading slump I do not finish the novel I am reading. However, The Night Shift was able to hold my attention and I’m so glad it did. Otherwise, I would have missed out on a chilling story containing betrayal, murder, and chaos. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 22, 2022
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Feb 26, 2022
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Dec 27, 2021
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Hardcover
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0593359240
| 9780593359242
| B09DKDZQXT
| 3.32
| 41,818
| May 24, 2022
| May 24, 2022
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it was amazing
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to NetGall Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Content warnings: child abuse, suicide, murder, murder of a child, attempted murder, gore // Please educate yourself on the content warnings for this novel before reading, as I may have missed some in my review. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 5/5 Stars Characters: 5/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 5/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // A brilliantly written horror novel that kept me interested from start to finish. Hide exhibits a broad and unique cast of characters, each trying their best to survive the horrifying circumstances they unknowingly introduced themselves to. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Del Rey Page Count: 256 pages Release Date: May 24, 2022 Series: None (that I am aware of) Tags: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Suspense, Horror, Paranormal --- // Review // Wow. I don’t even know where to start with this novel. It has been so long since I was so involved in a book that I was sad to see it end, and even longer since I have read a breathtaking yet horrifying book. Hide is a truly excellent and distinctive book, one that I’m sure will stick with me for the near future. I had hardly any issues with Hide and flew through the book at an amazing speed (for me, anyway). The plot was fast-moving but filled with mystery and terror. I spent the novel wondering about the new discoveries being made by the characters throughout the story. The plot came together beautifully and is truly a masterpiece. Hide was reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Winterset Hollow in its game of survival. However, it stands out when it comes to its memorable and lovable characters, chilling setting, and horror. The story takes place in an abandoned amusement park where 14 characters are meant to hide for 7 days in order to win 50,000 dollars. Run down, haunted, and hiding deadly secrets, the amusement park seems like a hopeful opportunity until day by day Mack, Ava, LeGrand, and Brandon notice something is amiss. Their discovery of secrets reveals that they were not brought to Asterion—the home of this twisted game—to get a second chance. Rather, they were brought here to die at the hands of a devilish monster summoned here in generations past to protect Asterion. I felt like I could truly connect to the vibrant cast of characters that Kiersten White created. Despite having 14+ characters introduced almost all at once, it was not hard for me to recognize them all through the frequent POV changes in the novel. The evolution of relationships in Hide added so much to the plot; it raised the stakes. With realistic characters in an unfamiliar landscape and situation, White created an absolutely genius progression of fear. I have never wanted to see a book as a movie as much as I want this one to be. I can just imagine how terrified I would be while seeing Hide on a screen. Kiersten White’s writing style, too, is beautiful and perfectly fits the feel of this book. The way the author explores the character’s trauma while incorporating it into the plot was fascinating and made me admire the characters even more. ‘ I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to check out more of White’s works. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 03, 2022
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Jul 08, 2022
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Dec 14, 2021
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Kindle Edition
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1643138650
| 9781643138657
| 1643138650
| 3.72
| 2,675
| Feb 01, 2022
| Feb 01, 2022
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really liked it
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to Pegasus Crime Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to Pegasus Crime for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Book Content Warning: death, murder, mentions of suicide, mentions of drowning, violence, sexual content // - Please educate yourself on the content warnings for this book before reading, as I may have missed some here. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 4/5 Stars Characters: 3/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Plot: 4/5 Stars Memorability: 3/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // Because I had never read a novel by Paul Vidich before, I started reading this novel with no idea of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the brilliant mystery within The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin‘s pages that ended with an epic demonstration of a woman’s determination. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Pegasus Crime Page Count: 352 pages Release Date: February 1, 2022 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Adult, Historical fiction, Spy, Suspense, Mystery --- // Characters // Anne Simpson is a woman living in West Berlin during 1989. She’s been married for two years to Stefan Koehler, a piano tuner who goes on frequent business trips. It’s not until Stefan doesn’t come back from a trip and she meets James Cooper that Anne realizes the life she has known for two years may be entirely false. Anne’s life is thrown upside down because of her discovery of Stefan’s supposed death and apparent betrayal. I found Anne to be a strong and stubborn woman who has had a terrible past few years filled with heartbreak and grief. And although I could see this in her, I didn’t feel a true connection to her (or any other characters, for that matter) until the very end of the novel. The characters weren’t as important to me as the events that occurred, and I felt that they weren’t as relatable as I’d hoped they would be. I always look for a connection with characters while I am reading, especially an emotional one, but for some reason this novel didn’t quite hit the mark in that department. Although I didn’t connect to the characters, that doesn’t mean they lacked depth. Most, if not all, of the main characters were fleshed out and had a backstory that impacted others or the plot. I loved the hidden layers of some characters, especially those of Stefan, who I spent the entire novel trying to figure out. --- // Writing and Setting // Vidich’s writing is compelling and descriptive, transporting one to an important time in history in which Vidich clearly did their research. Though I am anything but a history expert, I felt that the author did a fantastic job of conveying the importance and stress of Berlin in 1989. Although I hesitate to read historical fiction, the setting of The Matchmaker was my favorite part of the novel. The suspense in the air was clear and made me anxious for Anne as she attempted to navigate this new world of deceit she had been thrown into. --- // Plot // The best way to describe the pace of this novel is as a rollercoaster. The beginning and end of the novel felt as if they dragged on, and it took me a little while to get into the book. However, the action and suspense eventually became more frequent and intriguing towards the middle, and I found myself fascinated by its captivating mystery. The end of The Matchmaker left me in awe, as it was a twist I would have never expected. --- // Overall Review // I was delighted by the suspense of reading The Matchmaker, a thrilling spy novel set in Berlin during 1989. I will definitely be reading more of Vidich’s works. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 23, 2021
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Dec 27, 2021
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Nov 09, 2021
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Hardcover
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1625862083
| 9781625862082
| 1625862083
| 3.97
| 10,433
| Sep 01, 2021
| Sep 01, 2021
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it was amazing
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Jonatha Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Jonathan Durham and Credo House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Book Content Warnings: death, violence, torture, animal cruelty, blood, stabbings // – Before reading this novel, please be aware that while I try my best to disclose any potential content warnings for novels I review, I may have missed some. Please educate yourself on the CW for this novel before reading, as there are many violent scenes and gruesome details. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Characters: 5/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 5/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // Taking its rightful spot as my favorite book this year (and maybe of all time), Winterset Hollow is an immaculate mixture of good, evil, darkness, and light that had me hooked from beginning to end. Twisted and unexpected, I could not put this novel down until I knew the outcome of the horrific events that took place in this wonderfully mysterious and suspenseful novel. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Credo House Publishers Page Count: 286 pages Release Date: September 1, 2021 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Fantasy, Dark fantasy, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Adventure --- // Book Description (from Goodreads) // Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . . especially on Addington Isle. Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book-a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It’s Barley Day . . . and you’re invited to the hunt. Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse-pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run. --- // Characters // The novel introduces the reader to a trio of friends by the names of Eamon, Caroline, and Mark. Immediately, I was struck by how real Durham’s characters felt. It was almost as if I could envision them and reach forward to pat them on the shoulder. Their love for one another and friendship was apparent, making me automatically attached to the three. Eamon is a traumatized man whose childhood first consisted of living in the woods with his seemingly crazy father, then foster homes due to his dad’s disappearance. I couldn’t help but feel bad for Eamon from the start, for he had a confusing and, as I said, traumatic childhood. Caroline is a headstrong and lively woman who is dating the oblivious Mark. All three are on a trip to Addington Isle, the island which inspired the book Winterset Hollow, a book that got Eamon through his childhood. Yes, everyone, this is a book within a book, so get excited. *MILD SPOILERS* Once the three get to the island, the reader is introduced to the characters within the beloved Winterset Hollow: Runny (a rabbit), Flackwell (a frog), Finn (a fox), and Bing (a bear). These four are adorable at the start, but crueler intentions lay beneath the surface. The depth of each character and their relationships is so thoroughly written and undeniably realistic. The creativity with which Durham has written his characters is unbelievable. --- // Writing and Setting // Winterset Hollow is at first glance a fantasy novel that is light and jovial. However, underneath there are many gloomy and disastrous layers that are peeled back and observed throughout the progression of the story. The atmosphere of the novel is similar to its writing and best described as fantastically layered. One of the most important places in the novel is Addington Isle, the island that is supposedly magical, wonderful, and beautiful. --- // Plot // There is so much to discuss when it comes to the plot of Winterset Hollow. Not only are there so many terrifying horror and action scenes, but also a string of mysteries can be found throughout. As I’ve mentioned, Eamon and his friends take a trip to Winterset Hollow‘s place of origin, Addington Isle, home of the book’s author (not Jonathan Durham, instead E. B. Addington). They discover that the characters they grew up loving are real and inhabit Addington Isle. They’re invited to join in the Barley Day feast (a tradition of celebration for the Hollow’s characters), but things take a darker turn as the history of cruelty inflicted upon the Hollow’s animals comes back to haunt Addington Isle’s visitors. --- // Overall Review // Winterset Hollow is an unforgettable book that is impactful and deeply layered. I loved its twists and turns, characters, atmosphere, and horror. Overall, Winterset Hollow was a fantastic novel that I will never forget. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 12, 2021
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Nov 20, 2021
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Oct 15, 2021
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Paperback
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1633375099
| 9781633375093
| 1633375099
| 4.09
| 784
| Sep 06, 2021
| Sep 06, 2021
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it was amazing
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Boyle & Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Boyle & Dalton and Natalie Symons for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Book Content Warnings: death, murder, kidnapping, pedophilia, alcoholism, mental illness, self-harm, eating disorder, attempted drowning, homophobia (slurs), racism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, violence // – There are some graphic and disturbing scenes in this novel, so please educate yourself on the content warnings before reading, as I might have missed some. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Characters: 5/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 5/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // Lies in Bone is a curiosity-inducing novel that examines the fragility of humanity and truth through the lens of a teen in the 80’s. Full of family secrets, lies, and discoveries, Natalie Symon’s thrilling novel took me on an electrifying ride with its vulnerable and realistic characters. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Boyle & Dalton Page Count: 402 pages Release Date: September 6, 2021 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Adult, Young adult, Coming of age, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller, LGBTQ+ --- // Book Description (from Goodreads) // Told by a tart-tongued young woman with a love of Bruce Springsteen, Lies in Bone is at once a mystery and coming-of-age tale fueled by dark secrets involving love, murder, and the truths worth lying for. On Halloween 1963, eleven-year-old Chuck Coolidge and his brother Danny are lost in a toxic smog covering the steel town of Slippery Elm, Pennsylvania. When the smog lifts, half the town is sick and twenty people are dead. And Danny is missing. Now, over twenty years later, Chuck’s teenage daughter Frank plots escape from this “busted and disgusted” town. When a murdered child is found in the river, investigators link the crime to the disappearance of Danny in ’63, and Frank’s life is turned upside down. In the face of her worst fears, she must uncover her family’s dark past if she wants to keep her sister Boots from the hands of The State. Led to discover the unimaginable truth about Danny’s disappearance, Lies in Bone culminates in a shocking eleventh-hour reveal and an emotionally charged finale. --- // Characters // Lies in Bone boasts a large cast of realistic and complex characters who are utterly human. I felt such deep connections to many of the characters, especially Frank, the main character whose story Lies in Bone tells. Frances (Frank) Coolidge is a fiery, determined, and responsible teen whose family is anything but functional. She’s the best big sister who’s always looking out for her little sister, Boots. Frank’s entire life is thrown upside down when her family moves to Slippery Elm to take care of her grandmother. Frank meets her best friend Ray, the taboo gay kid in a small town, and begins to adjust to her future in a dreary small town in a house full of secrets. Frank learns things she never knew about her family, specifically that she has a missing uncle, Danny. Her dad, Chuck, apparently neglected to tell her that on Halloween 1963, his little brother went missing and his own mother thought he was responsible. Frank begins her own investigation into the family secrets that her grandmother and father refuse to discuss. She refuses to give up until the very end, she is determined to solve a 20+-year-old cold case because it is just too personal. One of my favorite characters, Ray, is Frank’s best friend. I loved the realistic inclusion of a gay and POC character, and the criticism of homophobia. Ray is a relief in the continual darkness of a small town in the ’80s that is wrapped up in murders and disappearances. Frank’s mysterious and seriously messed up father, Chuck Coolidge, is a bundle of good and bad. I have mixed feelings about him, just as Frank does. To be honest, Frank, the 16-year-old, is more responsible than her father. To give Chuck some grace, he was looked upon as the murderer of two young boys at a young age, one of the boys being his own little brother. But still, his actions are questionable. Now, while I may love Ray, I love Boots a whole lot more. She is the most adorable character who is just along for the crazy and disturbing ride. I felt so sorry for Boots, as she is a young child experiencing the horrendous events in this novel. One of the aspects I most admire about this book’s characters is the growth all of them undergo. I was able to watch Frank and Boots grow up and adapt amidst the chaos. --- // Writing and Setting // The novel was full of fast-paced and slower-paced sections that balanced out perfectly and created a thrilling adventure. It was dark, twisted, terrifying, and disturbing. I loved reading about the dark corners of the small town of Slippery Elms during the late ’80s. The novel takes place in the ’80s (I love, love, love media set in the ’70s-’80s) in the decrepit small town of Slippery Elms that has a history of child disappearances and murders. The atmosphere was chilling and sinister, adding more to the suspense of the story. --- // Plot // There were so many twists-and-turns and ups-and-downs throughout Lies in Bone that I was shaking with anticipation. Discovering answers to questions burning in my mind was satisfying yet torturous since more mysteries were introduced along the way. Frank describes the moment her life began to plummet into darkness as the ominous move to Slippery Elms to take care of her grandmother. The start of the novel builds up deliciously to an apogee full of thrills. Murder, disappearances, family secrets, town secrets, crooked characters, and shady events can all be found within the pages of this anxiety-inducing novel. I truly do not want to say much about specific events in this novel, as every little discovery was a magnificent discovery for me and I do not want to ruin that experience for everyone else. --- // Overall Review // Lies in Bone is one of the most thrilling novels I have read in a long time. It has paved its way onto my list of favorite books. It was perfect in many aspects and kept me intrigued until the very end. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 02, 2021
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Nov 12, 2021
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Oct 05, 2021
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Paperback
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3.36
| 5,206
| Jan 18, 2022
| 2022
|
it was amazing
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to St. Martin’s P Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. Listen to this review and more on my podcast, Maya's Reviews. --- Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Book Content Warnings: alcohol, blood, gore, mention of homophobia, mental illness, panic attacks, violence, disassociation, implied sexual content, sexual content, mention of sexual harassment, insanity, intrusive thoughts, disturbing scenes, death, death of an animal, graphic violence, sexism, pedophilia, sexual assault, sexual harassment, murder // – As always, please educate yourself on the content warnings for this novel before reading. This novel is especially heavy and contains many disturbing and dark scenes/themes that can make one very uncomfortable. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 5/5 Stars – I would rate it higher if I could. Characters: 5/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 5/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // Such a Pretty Smile is a chill-inducing novel that examines the patriarchy and sexism through a terrifying tale of death and mystery. Oozing horror at every flip of the page, I could not put this electrifying novel down until I read it cover to cover. Filled with relatable characters and emotion, Such a Pretty Smile was overtly thrilling, blood-curdling, and above all, powerful. --- “Those pure, innocent girls kept from anything that defined them in the name of protection, while their brothers carried on as if there was nothing to fear. But for them, there wasn’t. They would never understand the inherent trepidation that came as a result of being wrapped in girl flesh.” --- // Other Information // Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Page Count: 320 pages Release Date: January 18, 2022 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Horror, Suspense, Supernatural, Dark, Gore, Feminism --- // Book Description (from Goodreads) // A biting novel from an electrifying new voice, Such a Pretty Smile is a heart-stopping tour-de-force about powerful women, angry men, and all the ways in which girls fight against the forces that try to silence them. There’s something out there that’s killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don’t know when to shut up. 2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. Not the school psychologist she’s seeing. Not her father, who has a new wife, and a new baby. And not her mother—the infamous Caroline Sawyer, a unique artist whose eerie sculptures, made from bent twigs and crimped leaves, have made her a local celebrity. But soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice—until she is punished for using it. 2004: Caroline Sawyer hears dogs everywhere. Snarling, barking, teeth snapping that no one else seems to notice. At first, she blames the phantom sounds on her insomnia and her acute stress in caring for her ailing father. But then the delusions begin to take shape—both in her waking hours, and in the violent, visceral sculptures she creates while in a trance-like state. Her fiancé is convinced she needs help. Her new psychiatrist waves her “problem” away with pills. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that the men around her can’t understand. As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced, unsettling to the bone, and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile is a powerful allegory for what it can mean to be a woman, and an untamed rallying cry for anyone ever told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty. --- // Characters // The novel follows the past and present of Caroline Sawyer and her 13-year-old daughter, Lila. Before really going into Caroline and Lila, I want to mention how realistic, deep, and relatable the characters of this novel truly were. As this novel deals strongly with sexism, misogyny, and the patriarchy, both Caroline and Lila deal with various frustrating scenarios in which I was also frustrated. The author does a fantastic job of conveying the emotions of their characters to the reader, which made me become even more attached to their lively characters. Caroline is an artist whose life has been anything but easy. Though she does not remember, at a young age she was kidnapped by the infamous ‘serial killer’ ‘The Cur’. Though still alive in 2019, Caroline was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004 when she started seeing ‘visions’ of strange half dog/half man creatures in the corner of her room, heard unreal dogs barking, and lost time as the days went by; all around the time of a series of murders and mutilations. Called crazy, Caroline submits to her drug-induced stupor and recommits her life to art in order to take care of her daughter, Lila. However, throughout the novel we see a new side of Caroline: the strong, powerful, and headstrong Caroline. In 2019, Lila is a 13-year-old with a crush on her homophobic best friend, Macie. It really cannot get worse than that: being in middle school while having a crush on your unattainable best (and only) friend. Alas, it does. Another series of young girls going missing and turning up murdered occurs, seemingly inducing a strange switch in Lila’s personality. Lila begins to hear dogs barking that aren’t there, see things that also aren’t, and becomes malicious. Caroline, of course, is disturbed by this change in her sweet baby. Things only get worse as more murders occur and Lila feels pressured by Macie to become increasingly different and rebellious. All of DeMeester’s characters were utterly realistic and relatable. As I said, the personalities of each character shone through and made me become even more connected to the characters and the story. --- // Writing and Setting // DeMeester’s writing is true magic, one that can transport you from your dimly lit room at night to an eerie scene. Everything was described in graphic detail, but not to the point of boredom. I could truly envision everything that occured in the novel and felt like I was there, which made the book’s horror even more terrifying. The in depth and practically poetic descriptions of this book’s events provided many gory scenes. Dark and energetic, the atmosphere of Such a Pretty Smile was inescapable and deliciously malevolent. The novel splits between Caroline and Lila’s points of view. Caroline’s POV differs between 2004 and 2019, which provides a unique view of past and current events in the book. --- // Plot // I have nothing but good words to say about Such a Pretty Smile‘s perfectly paced and anxiety-inducing plot. Every little detail is important in this novel, and you never have a good idea of what is truly real or false until the very end. Never a dull moment, Such a Pretty Smile is terrifying throughout the novel and never stops being so. The story centers around the lives of Caroline and Lila while a series of murders and mutilations occurs seemingly in the background. But, with Such a Pretty Smile, nothing is ever as it seems. Things become particularly serious for Caroline and Lila as Lila seems to change overnight and Caroline relives a similar killing spree from years before. --- // Overall Review // Such a Pretty Smile was eerily entertaining and powerful, conveying a strong message about the origin of women’s daily fear of the outside world. I cannot think of a better horror book I have read, for Such a Pretty Smile is the epitome of a perfect novel. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 22, 2021
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Dec 24, 2021
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Sep 24, 2021
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1542019885
| 9781542019880
| 1542019885
| 3.90
| 31,670
| Jan 25, 2022
| Jan 25, 2022
|
it was amazing
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Amazon Publishing and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an ARC of Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- A huge thank you to Amazon Publishing and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All quotes are taken from Quicksilver by Dean Koontz. // Content warning: violence (guns), abandonment, death, slavery, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of sex // --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 5/5 Stars Plot: 5/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Characters: 5/5 Stars Writing: 5/5 Stars Memorability: 5/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // From start to finish, Quicksilver is unpredictable. Full of lovable characters, constant peril, and a plethora of mystery, Koontz’s newest novel is dark, addictive, and thrilling. With every novel released, Dean Koontz proves that he is a master of storytelling. Quicksilver is the latest in a line of masterpieces. Mysterious from the start, Quicksilver sucked me in and didn’t spit me out until I had been thoroughly ingrained in the world of Quinn Quicksilver. --- “My understanding of the true nature of the world was undergoing a seismic shift. Or was I merely shedding adult illusions for the fantastic truth that every child knows? In spite of one bizarre turn of events after another, in spite of all my rushing around and my reckless surrender to the pull of mysterious forces, I sensed that I wasn’t falling away into a new reality. Instead, I felt as though I might be coming home to the world I knew a long time ago, where monsters lurking in the closet weren’t always imaginary, where a desperate but secret war was being waged by two armies in disguise, where victory had nothing to do with conquering territory, where the battlefield was the human heart, the spoils of war the human soul.” --- // Other Information // Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Page Count: 366 pages Release Date: January 25, 2022 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Adult, Horror, Thriller, Suspense --- // Book Description (via Goodreads) // #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past—mile by frightening mile. Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery—abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life. During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving. Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview—an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary. --- // Characters // Quinn Quicksilver is a 19 year old living in Phoenix while working for Arizona! magazine. He was raised by nuns at Mater Misericordiæ after being abandoned at three days old and found by three men outside of Peptoe, Arizona. From the beginning, Quinn is a humble, curious, and utterly oblivious young man thrown into perilous situations. Quinn discovers that he possesses powers such as psychic magnetism, a force that guides him in situations and essentially gives him the ability to sense incoming dangers, obstacles, etc. While reading Quicksilver I was struck by how similar Quinn is to my best friend. It amused me how similar they were in their humor and character. Besides this, I related to the manner in which Quinn reacted in the situations he was presented with. I, too, would be terrified and unaware of how to react when faced with extraterrestrial creatures called Screamers because of their ghastly appearance. What I admire most about how Quinn was written is how he changes over the novel. Over the course of the story, he evolves to adapt to his environment, becoming brave, selfless, and full of purpose. This character growth is slow and well done. The reader first sees Quinn evade the ISA while eating breakfast, then he manages to defeat aliens, and eventually he is able to overcome long-lasting issues from his childhood, even facing characters who he once considered family. Bridget Rainking, the granddaughter of Sparky Rainking, is a fiery and headstrong young woman who also possesses powers like Quinn. One of her powers is intuition which alerts her to the existence of Quinn even before they meet. Bridget is prepared for her true love (Quinn) to come waltzing through the door… and he does! Bridget is one of those characters that holds the rest of the characters together in conflicts and times of danger. She also is the character that takes poor Winston the dog under her wing while stealing money from a gang. Sparky Rainking, my favorite character because of his humor, is a romance novelist under the title of Daphne Larkrise. Besides writing novels, he is the best grandpa someone could ask for. The witty remarks he makes at the worst of times really keep this novel from slipping into a dark place from which there is no return. I cannot gush enough over Sparky. I should also introduce Panthea Ching, an artist living in the middle of Arizona that also possesses powers. However, hers are quite different from Quinn’s and Bridget’s; Panthea can tell the future through visions. The interactions and conversations between the characters, especially between Quinn and Bridget, are entertaining and wonderfully written. All of Koontz’s characters are written with depth, liveliness, and humanity. None of the characters are perfect people, which makes them realistic. --- “I have always been an optimist, because pessimists seldom have any fun and usually fret their way into one of the horrible fates they spend their lives worrying about… the optimist, unlike the pessimist, believes that life has meaning, that there is something to learn from every adversity, and even that the absurdity of such an excess of misfortune will likely seem at least somewhat amusing after enough time has passed.” --- // Writing and Setting // There is not a moment in this novel that I felt dragged along or was unnecessary. Every chapter is action-packed and anxiety-inducing. Overall the novel is fast-paced until the end. I resisted sleep while thinking about this novel and where the plot could go or what I could discover about this twisted world Koontz created—a world that is a direct reflection of our own. Once again, Koontz’s writing examines the faults and brilliance of humanity through the journey of lovable characters. In both our world and Quicksilver's, the power-hungry climb social and economic ladders by tearing down others. In both worlds, humans have the choice to make good or bad decisions, sometimes ones that affect others. Quinn navigates his world of good and evil by trying to understand the nature of humanity. I really enjoyed how Quinn’s past deeply influences and reflects his present. At the end of every section, young Quinn lives through tragic and traumatic events while at the orphanage. A nun at the orphanage, Sister Theresa, attempts to help Quinn understand how and why people do bad things. While he doesn’t get it at first, the parallels between young and old Quinn help one understand why Quinn is the way he is. The world-building of Quicksilver is one of my favorite parts of the novel. In this modern and dark world, Screamers/Nephilim are disguised alien-type monsters who have invaded Earth and caused destruction. There are ‘unique’ people who have genes that are not human. Two of these people are Bridget and Quinn. As it is later explained when they eventually reach Peptoe, there are two universes. The first was reduced to dust by Screamers who crave destruction, pain, and death. The Screamers invade the second universe (our universe) to cause more pain, which they feed upon. Bridget and Quinn were born to protect the second universe from this threat with their variety of superpowers. --- // Plot // Beginning with a magnetic pull towards an abandoned crossroads to the feeling of coming danger, Quinn is experiencing what many would call insanity and paranoia. But when men in suits rudely interrupt his meal at Beane’s Diner, Quinn realizes that his life will never be the same. It is while on the run from the ISA (Internal Security Agency) that Quinn is pulled towards Sweetwater Flying F Ranch where he meets Bridget and Sparky Rainking. Quinn wants to discover why the ISA is after him. He plans to do so by talking to the three men that found him outside of Peptoe as a baby. Since all three are on the run from the ISA, they decide that sticking together would be the best option. It is revealed that both Bridget and Quinn are parentless/adopted, and both are using DNA tests to discover who their parents were. Through this process, the ISA becomes alerted to the non-human genes that Bridget and Quinn possess, which is why the ISA is so desperate to contain them. Racing through the Arizona desert, the trio (and Winston) are sidetracked by the ISA, which is hot on their trail. Through this interruption of their plan they meet Panthea, who reveals to them their purpose in the world and time. Quinn, Bridget, Panthea, and Sparky must face a variety of monsters, both human and alien, to fulfill the purpose for which they were brought into the world: keep the evil from growing stronger and destroying everything. Along the way they grow closer and become their own dysfunctional and nomadic family. One of my favorite scenes is during the second half of the novel, where Quinn, Bridget, Panthea, Sparky, and Quinn are racing through the desert in an attempt to leave Peptoe without alerting the ISA. This proves difficult when rain and darkness fall… and the persistent ISA sends two dangerously equipped vehicles racing after them. Through Bridget’s excellent driving skills and connection to psychic magnetism (and Quinn’s panicking), they are all able to escape in one piece. The entire chase was thrilling yet infused with humor, which is common in many scenes throughout the novel. --- “How strange is the world and all life in it. How strange am I. How much stranger still—mysterious, wonderful—that there is a world at all, or me, or you.” --- // Overall Review // I never thought that another Dean Koontz novel would top my favorite, The Door to December, but Quicksilver came pretty close. The novel was fast-paced and full of peril. Its characters, chaos, high-stakes, and dark world have found a special place in my heart. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 14, 2021
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Oct 17, 2021
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Aug 04, 2021
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Hardcover
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3.55
| 3,673
| Jan 25, 2022
| Jan 25, 2022
|
it was ok
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. // Content warnings: death, disease, guns, violence // – I am unable to provide a full list of content warnings since I did not finish reading this novel. --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 2/5 Stars Plot: 1/5 Stars Setting: 2/5 Stars Characters: 1/5 Stars Writing: 4/5 Stars Memorability: 1/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // While I wish I could say that this novel lived up to my expectations, but I, unfortunately, cannot. Just like This Is Where It Ends, the novel falls short on its diversity, plot, and realness. I ended up not finishing the novel after being stuck at 55% for a long time. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Page Count: 320 pages Release Date: January 25, 2022 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Young adult, Science fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, LGBTQ+ --- // Book Description (via Goodreads) // From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends comes another heartbreaking, emotional and timely page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist. Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day…they don’t show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There’s a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they’re stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all. As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place. --- // Characters // The novel is split between the POV’s of three characters: Logan, Grace, and Emerson. Logan is the sister of Leah, and both of them are living at Hope Juvenile Treatment Center, a place for troubled teens. Emerson is a non-binary teen also at this center. And Grace? I honestly forget who she is as a character. This is a major issue with the novel: most if not all the characters are flat, unrealistic, and tokenized. So are their relationships. If This Is Where It Ends was performative, At The End of Everything was even more so. The first chapter is pretty much dedicated to going through all of the characters at Hope and naming off their gender, sexuality, and race. During the first chapter I could already tell that the characters would be sloppily represented. This seems to be an issue I have with Nijkamp’s novels: the sloppy representation. But besides the characters’ identities, I didn’t relate to or become attached to any of them. They were all flat and unrealistic, making it hard to sympathize with them in their hardships. --- // Writing and Setting // This novel is split between 3 POV’s: Grace, Emerson, and Logan. The writing is descriptive but basic. The novel takes place in a world where a mutation of the Black Plague is ravaging the world. It seems as if this situation was meant to reflect but be a more dramatized version of our world today and the pandemic. The setting was decent but left me unsatisfied and not thrilled. For a suspense novel there was hardly any tension. The main characters are troubled teenagers who have been sent to Hope Juvenile Treatment Center, a place that (not surprisingly) is not really treatment oriented. --- // Plot // After an unusual day at Hope, the guards abandon the kids without a mention of why. The kids ‘escape’ and come in contact with a blockade at the entrance of the nearest town, preventing them from truly escaping their nicely named prison. They discover that the world is currently at the mercy of a black plague mutation. At the plague begins to infect those within Hope, the kids must band together to take care of one another and live. I cannot speak for the second half of the novel, as I DNFed at 55%, but the first half of the novel was slow-moving, not compelling, and chaotic. There was so much going on, yet I felt as if the story dragged. And a lot of the story was pointless in terms of the kids’ survivals. --- // Overall Review // I gave this novel two stars because it has promise, but it was just not for me. With lazy diversity, chaotic yet slow story-lines, and flat characters, I couldn’t continue reading this novel past 55%. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || TikTok || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 26, 2021
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Sep 08, 2021
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Jul 31, 2021
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||||
149262246X
| 9781492622468
| 149262246X
| 3.68
| 147,155
| Jan 05, 2016
| Jan 05, 2016
|
liked it
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Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- // Content warning: death, mass shooting, sexual assault, physical abuse, suicide, hom Check out this review and more on my blog, Maya’s Reviews. --- // Content warning: death, mass shooting, sexual assault, physical abuse, suicide, homophobia // --- // Quick Statistics // Overall: 3/5 Stars Plot: 2/5 Stars Setting: 5/5 Stars Characters: 2/5 Stars Writing: 4/5 Stars Memorability: 4/5 Stars --- // Quick Review // I’ve been wanting to read this novel for well over two years, but never got around to it. I had heard great things and was looking forward to reading a novel with diversity that also deals well with heavy topics. However, I found that instead of the 5 star read I expected, I was fairly disappointed. --- // Other Information // Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Page Count: 282 pages Release Date: January 5, 2016 Series: None Genre: Fiction, Young adult, LGBTQ+, Realistic fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, Thriller --- // Book Description (via Goodreads) // Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun… 10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve. 10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 10:03: The auditorium doors won’t open. 10:05: Someone starts shooting. In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun. --- // Characters // This Is Where It Ends is split between the POV’s of four characters: Claire, Tomas, Sylvia, and Autumn. Tomas and Sylvia are siblings, Autumn and Sylvia are dating, and Claire dated Autumn’s brother, Tyler. One of the things I was most excited for going into this novel was the split POV and the promised diversity. While I think the split POV was perfectly executed and made the novel even more suspenseful, the diversity was lacking. Despite showcasing many different characters with different races, sexualities, and abilities, I felt as if they were all treated as token characters. The author made a point to specifically say who was what, and this made the characters identities feel flimsy and unrealistic. Rather than building up or showing the chemistry between Sylvia and Autumn, Nijkamp instead points out constantly that they are together and ‘meant for one another’. Which, I really wanted to care about their relationship, I really did, but I just couldn’t. As I was reading it was like ‘Oh, nice. They’re together… moving on.’ Despite these issues, however, I was attached and emotionally invested in the main characters and even some of the side characters. I cried during the deaths and was upset/stunned after finishing the novel. One of the biggest issues that is actually somewhat problematic for this novel is the character of Tyler, who *SPOILER* (view spoiler)[is the shooter and Autumn’s brother. (hide spoiler)] Obviously, Tyler’s character is the main antagonist and a huge part of the novel. Which make’s his characteristic flaws even more disappointing. I started reading This Is Where It Ends expecting a realistic (yet fictionalized) and well-handled novel about a school shooting. I had hoped that the novel would deal with this topic well and represent it truthfully. However, this is where Tyler puts a pin in that representation. Tyler is somewhat of an ‘evil’ character, yet he is killing people in the school for what seems to be no reason. The author doesn’t explain how or why Tyler has gotten to the point where he feels all alone and determines shooting up the school is the best way to deal with his demons. It is explained multiple times that Tyler is doing this because he is alone, yet it’s never explained why he feels that way, or what happened to make this so. This lack of his character’s background makes him almost like a Disney villain; he’s doing horrible things yet we’re just supposed to go along and not question why. --- // Writing and Setting // As I mentioned, the use of multiple POV’s add an even more suspenseful and eventually heart-shattering atmosphere to the novel. I read This Is Where It Ends fairly quickly because the writing style was so simplistic yet perfect to carry me along. The setting, I feel, is where this novel excelled. No matter its shortcoming in the characters and plot, This Is Where It Ends is highly suspenseful and terrifying. The novel brings every student’s worst fear to life and throws the reader into a terrifying fictionalized account of a school shooting, a common tragedy in today’s world. --- // Plot // I would like to say that I loved the plot, but one of the best parts is that this novel moves fast. While the it is definitely heartbreaking, the actual events in the novel felt more like a B-list movie than a ‘realistic’ story about a school shooting. Like I said before, Tyler’s character is pretty much cartoonized and a joke, which makes the events in the novel seem unrealistic and almost lazy. There were so many things going on in this novel besides the shooting that it felt as if Nijkamp was trying to pack This Is Where It Ends full of nonsense. A huge portion of the story is focused on Sylvia and Autumn’s relationship, which isn’t authentic anyways. And then another huge portion is focused on Claire and her friend Chris’ potential relationship. Which, by the way, seems pretty ill-timing since Clare and Chris are attempting to get help and Claire’s brother is literally in the school with the shooter? The one thing I will say is that despite its flaws, the promised suspense is definitely there. This Is Where It Ends definitely succeeds as a thriller, but not so much a representation of mass shootings and their victims. --- // Overall Review // There was a lot wrong with this novel, and I was so disappointed after waiting so long to read it. Despite its flaws, This Is Where It Ends was suspenseful and fast-paced, and actually managed to make me shed a tear (I know, I’m an emotionless person when it comes to books). However, I would not recommend reading it if you are looking for a realistically diverse account of a fictionalized school shooting. --- FOLLOW ME: Twitter || TikTok || Tumblr || BookBub || BookSiren || Anchor || YouTube || Spotify || Google Podcasts || Apple Podcasts ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 19, 2021
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Aug 20, 2021
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May 18, 2020
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Hardcover
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11 of 11 loaded